Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sensors, and more specifically, to a sensor coupled with an attenuation layer.
Background
An imaging system depends on an image sensor to generate an electronic representation of a visual image. Examples of image sensors include charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors and active pixel sensor (APS) devices. Typically, these imaging sensors include a plurality of light sensitive pixels (or sensing elements) arranged in a regular pattern of rows and columns.
The quality of an image captured on an imaging sensor depends partly on the dynamic range of the light recorded by the sensor. Thus, an image sensor that can provide a wider dynamic range than the dynamic range provided by the conventional image sensor is desirable. For example, when capturing scenes that include wide ranges of brightness, such as from direct sunlight to deep shadow, and exposing the image so as to obtain good signal in the dark areas, the stronger light in the bright areas will saturate the sensing elements, and the actual light radiance cannot be obtained. Accordingly, high dynamic range sensors are needed for capturing scenes that include such wide ranges of brightness.